Living near the beach is lovely but it does tend to get rather busy on hot days. This weekend we had an early visit there on our way elsewhere to avoid the crowds. We love sea crafts for kids and I’ve been trying to think of some seashell craft ideas that I can do with my toddler, we picked up some seashells and driftwood while we were there and bought them home to make something with later that evening. This is what we came up with!
A couple of weeks back I saw this DIY wall hanging on Tigerlilly Quinn hat I really liked, but I thought it might be fun to use things that we found at the seaside and use some driftwood rather than dowling rod.
We hunted on the beach for shells with holes already in them, harder than it sounds! This is our collection.
I also grabbed some of my beloved bakers twine and let my toddler choose some paints. Predictably I couldn’t find the paintbrushes anywhere so we used sponges instead. No big deal.
He painted the shells and then once the paint had dried I tied the bakers twine around the driftwood an through the holes in the shells. A couple of shells didn’t work as hoped but hey that’s what happens when you scavenge things, they’re natural objects and arguably have been designed for a purpose other than toddler crafts.
And that’s it done! I think it looks pretty cute! I had planned on doing it in subtle glittery colours but when you let a toddler choose you’ve got to expect the bright stuff and actually I think that looks better.
As my son tends to come home with pockets full of shells I’d love to hear about any seashell craft ideas you have. Do you make anything with them or just leave them around to look pretty?
You can check out all the Sea Crafts for Kids on Craft on Sea over here and if you like seaside crafts why not follow my Pinterest board for more inspiration!
Follow Kate Williams CraftsonSea’s board Sea Crafts for Kids on Pinterest.
Loving this! So easy but so adorable! Nicola, one of our authors, is still trying to compile different crafty ideas of things we can do with shells lol http://www.lovesouthend.co.uk/landmarks-attractions/seaside/sea-shell-hairclip-flower-jar-crafts.html
I love the simplicity of a seaside wall hanging though 😀
Lovely idea, and it looks great. So simple, but really effective and a great craft to get the kids involved in x
Ooh, that’s really pretty. Wish we lived near the seaside, or at least within an hour’s drive instead 2+.
Very effective and it looks great on your wall too.
Thank you!
As someone who often sits down only to realised I’ve a back pocket full of shells this is fab! x
Exactly the same issue here 😉
Simple and effective:) I think strings of shells can make great wind chimes, whether they are just pretty or make a lovely noise I have no idea as never got as far the execution of the idea!!
Ha, I know what you mean! Will have to give it a try 🙂
What a lovely idea! We might try this, but an urban version – roadside sticks and snail shells! I think it could work…..
Ha! Brilliant idea!!
This looks lovely; it would be great hanging from trees in a garden too. Our nearest beach is a stony one so we normally come back with a collection of interesting pebbles, some of which we paint and varnish and hide around the garden. The idea is that when the boys are parents themselves their children can run round the garden finding all the treasures that their daddies collected when they were young.
Oh that’s such a lovely idea! 🙂
I like the simplicity of this idea! My toddler comes home with stones, so maybe we can try a stone hanging! #pintorials
Yeah, that’d be fab! Gotta be worth a try anyway, always need stuff to keep the kids occupied!
Great idea, I love the pink colour that you’ve added to the shells.
Love my son, always goes for the bright stuff!!
What a lovely idea. Will have to try something like this with my two!
I was going to suggest windchimes, but Vicky’s beaten me to it. Been thinking about one of those ribbon fly screens recently. If I added some of our enormous collection of seashells to one, it might make it more interesting. Love baker twine.
Gorgeous, gorgeous gorgeous! Again I am SO jealous that you live at the seaside… x
#Pintorials
This is so lovely! Loving it!
So beautiful and something that can be made by crafters of all ages … thanks for linking up to #GetYourCraftOn